By the time Paul Thatcher built his company’s HR tech capabilities from the ground up, the organization had grown to the point that he now has to start the process of assessing vendor solutions all over again. Such is thenature of seeking workplace soft ware solutions, as technologyevolves at mind-bending speed and employers’ needs changenearly as rapidly.

When Thatcher took over the HR team at Orem, Utah-based Jive Communications in 2014, the department was still
using Google Docs and spreadsheets to corral its employee
data. The hosted communications firm had expanded rapidly
since its founding in 2006, but its HR infrastructure had not
kept up. In fact, the infrastructure was virtually nonexistent.

That blank slate gave Thatcher lots of practice vetting HR
technology vendors. In less than four years, he implemented a
human resource information system (HRIS) with integrated
benefits, time and attendance, and payroll functionality, as well
as automated applicant tracking and onboarding systems. The
business’s investment in HR technology is far from over. “Now
that we’ve almost tripled the size of the company,” Thatcher
says, “it’s time to re-evaluate.”

A SOUNDER
SELECTION
PROCESS

By Jennifer Arnold
Follow these steps to identify
the best HR technology
providers for your business.